Subjects

Notes

Support for the development of the technical infrastructure and partner training provided by the United States Department of Education TICFIA program.

General Note:

Outline from the website at http://www.reading.ac.uk/minorities/Projects/min-project-breaking-sexual-silences.aspx
In recent years, some of the most urgent and highly-charged public and political debates in the Caribbean have centred on sexual citizenship and gay rights. To date, popular cultural forms and the acute homophobia of the dancehall have dominated national and international attention. The very public exchanges between Caribbean musicians and western-based gay rights campaigners have given the region a reputation for homophobia, intolerance and hate crimes. This project seeks to shift the axes of these debates by drawing on a recent body of Caribbean creative writing that addresses issues of sexual self-determination and sexual diversity in a more positive and progressive way. It will make visible the possibilities for understanding sexual differences and the modes of reconciliation to be found in a literary archive. The project will also engage a group of Caribbean scholars across other disciplines to develop a new language for articulating sexual difference. It will stage a panel debate for a Caribbean public, as well as producing academic publications and supporting graduate work.